Dusted grandmas Skylark off. Trying to build a cruiser out of it

My car's is black. I think it will look pretty sweet? Time will tell

 

Think the over the counter Buick cowl kit was off the very back off the air cleaner and almost straight back to the cowl… a slight angle to the right into the cowl. Very short. It was a very cool (no pun intended!) piece!

 

I have a '65 Biscayne that was Black on Red from factory.

 

No idea what happened here

 

Fun stuff


Original gray seems to have cracked out. Then the black "crackled". Just pulled it out of a trash bag after 20 hours of an easy off bath. Looks like I have a "beak" to fix with some epoxy, then "fill" with some sealer and paint again

Messing around a bit. Is there a smaller "Special " emblem out there? A "custom 455" would work also from a Centurion

 

Turned OK. Yes, it's gloss black. We'll see how it looks with teal mist.



Bought "custom 455" emblem off ebay.com. Likely put it in the grille

 

....and here's the latest.

BF Richgoods don't quite have the bead that the Futura tires have. Air leaks past the glue and screw holes with the BFG on there. So I'll be changing wheels. Kind of good and bad. I don't hate these wheels but don't LOVE them either.


Bad thing is I have a BRAND NEW set of Visions Sport Lite for the front. I'll see if someone local wants to play this game. I don't. I think the rear wheels could be welded and be serviceable but if I've got to buy new rears, I'm going to get something I like.




These will soon be ordered. I LOVE the Weld wheels in this flavor but the Vision Nitro will work fine?


Weld wheel

Biggest question is what offset for the rear do I get to fit in the 72 wheelwell? Any quarter panel mods I should make before I paint? I've got 295 50 15 BFG for the rear. I have -25, 0 and +25 offset available in a 15x10 with 5 on 114.3 bolt pattern (yes, that's the bolt pattern on my 9" rear).

Thoughts? (Going searching in the wheel/tire section pdq)
Edit: http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/p295-50r15-tires.368611/

Just need to convert to mm and I'll be ordering. Thanks for the info Larry!



Other thing to work out. Lugs/lug nuts could be interesting?

 

114.3 is the metric equivalent to 4.5". Typical Ford bolt pattern.
I'm sure you knew that already tho.

 

Welds use the SS/T shank lug,...readily available

 

The wheels can be welded up with ease also

 

These tires/wheels will have a sacrificial purpose. Bought some new Vision Sport Lite wheels to match the front.




Just got these today from Stephen Smith on the book of FaceSpace. Need to work out some more "finish work" before painting. Not sure what else is left but I need to get out all my trim, decide what gets used, what doesn't and prep the car for the finish stuff.



There's a bit of a flaw with the mirrors aside from paint. I'm curious if any of the eagle eye folks pick up on it. I bet someone does.

It'll get fixed. Tempting not to but I know the issue. It'll bug me. It's just costing me a couple hours before painting. LOTS more after (in fact I'd likely leave it and grump about it)


What is this lower rear quarter trim called?
I "think" I want to use this.





This should be fun as well.



Has anyone added the Buick 455 emblem to the rocker trim where the Pontiac emblems go? I'd need to have a part milled to do it "right". Could make things heavier than the thin moulding can handle?

 

That's the rear rocker extension molding,...there was a set for sale few weeks ago,..note70 had them iirc,..I would forgo the emblem on the rocker idea myself

 

Ready for some primer. Will get the door holes welded up on the car and prime the mirrors and the door upper at the same time

 

Primer up coming for the above. Helped a church group with a parade this morning. Trailer was out and I need to load the Buick next Friday night. Test fit time. (Trailer is 32' and yes, I hope I can fit two cars on there. If I can, there will be a out 6" between the cars and the rear car will hang off the back a bit.)




Anyway, the headers drag just a wee bit.

Something to think about. I'll need to use the tongue jack method to load this dawg. WAY different feel loading this than my Jeep on 40" tires. A little more "smooth" momentum is required.

 

Was hoping for color on next Saturday. I'm out of primer. Probably shooting for the next Saturday after that now?

Those holes I fixed in the door for the mirror didn't turn out awesome. Primer is needed for my current skill set. Primer would be good for my sport mirrors. I've got a smallish high spot on both lower quarters I need to fix. Not much but just shows up with a block. Thought I'd killed that already. I know it's there. I'm sure I'll miss 300 things. I should fix what I know is meh.

My '72 front hood moulding should arrive next week? Need to prep that. I'm damn close but when you're renting a booth and doing a metallic, I think it wise to shoot as much as you possibly can on the same day.

It's been a while since I sprayed (since about '99) clear for something worth having look nice. I keep going over my old school spraying techniques. Roof-A pillar from the drip rail to center, bounce to other side of roof, down the quarter across the decklid/rear panel/window, driver's quarter, driver door, lower part of driver fender, pass door- fender then the hood and tops of fenders. That still keep a wet edge?

Obviously this clear is different than what I used to spray and my technique has eroded after two decades. Using the warm weather activator obviously. I'll see how it looks after a third coat (1-dust/tack coat, 2-decent coat with gloss, 3-gloss the gloss but don't get flow indicators). I used to use a 1.8-2.0 tip for clear. 1.4 for base. Sounds like people use a 1.4-1.5 for everything now?

 

1.4 is a good all around tip size
1.3 is a better base tip

Nothing bigger than 1.4 for topcoat

If its a cross flow booth start at the I take side if the booth,...decklid,..quarters to a few in over the door gaps and up the sails the push the clear from one side of the rood over to the other,..the doors,..run to fenders up to few in in the hood then push the clear across the hood

Down draft booth start on a sail panel push across the roof ,....down to decklid,..quarters into the doors

If over 80° use the slow activator,..gun distance will vary on the product but 4 to 6in and speed will also vary on product,..with slow activator anticipate it moving,...you want a consistent surface so it can flow but not take off

 

Paint booth drama continues. Might be throwing a bunch of visqueen in the garage on a calm day? Hopefully not.


Car is ready for sealer, color, clear.

I can work on trim parts until the cows come home. Those hood chrome strips are beat to hell.

I have '71 headlight bezels and matching hood trim. Also have '72 headlight bezels. 71 stuff is beat up enough it'll be body color. 72 bezels are pretty good but hood trim is kind of meh. Needs a little more work. Since it's such a Frankenstein car, I'm not that concerned about being "right". I think I prefer the '72 look so I'll keep working on the '72 stuff.


Had a few minutes and thought I should test fit the wheel/tire.

Those lugs are LONG. I'll be pulling axle shafts and putting new lugs on I guess. At least it's safe to drive if I put the new wheels/tires on.

I went with the 275 60 15 in the rear. Stuck to the original wheel style. Still like the other "star" wheels more but I was already halfway done with the set of wheels. (I purchased the fronts early this year from Summit. Rear wheels and all 4 tires from Discount tire)


Btw, I tried out my HVLP gun at about 23-24 psi with a 1.3 tip to spot prime a few places. Hugger is right on with the smaller tip and the smaller atomization. Thanks for the heads up!!!

 

It's about to get serious now

 

That's not lacquer primer is it?

 

No. Is that still sold?

I left that behind in 1989